Keynote Speaker 1 2023

Keynote Speaker

Topic/ Title: The One And Only

Description: We are living in an age where the latest and greatest… is available, at your fingertip, in a nanosecond. The world is drowning in a sea of sameness.  Attention is growing shorter and shorter for you to catch them. There are just too many of you in this world. But the world is only looking for… THE ONE AND ONLY

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Beat no one, compete with no one, and stay unrivaled.
2. Stay ahead of the rat race, without being dragged into it.
3. Be still in the middle of a noisy world.

Biography / Profile of the Trainer: 

Life Speaker

• Mohamed likes to call himself a ‘Life Speaker’: bringing speaking to your life and life to your speaking.
• Helps organizations and individuals build better communication, positive culture and innovative performance, especially in managing occupational safety and health, and the industrial sector in general.
• First from the Middle East to reach the World Championship of Public Speaking finals (Washington DC, 2006).
• The 1st – and so far only – from the Middle East to earn the “Accredited Speaker” designation. Globally, he’s the 88th AS.
• Certified Transformational leader (by CMI, UK)
• MBA in Transformational Leadership (St. John York Uni, UK).
• Founder and CEO of Y Access Training Solutions Co.

Keynote Speaker

Cajetan Barretto, DTM

Topic/ Title: The Future of Public Speaking with A.I.

Description: The public release of generative A.I. tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney has sparked our imagination on the applications of A.I. in our daily lives. A.I. tools are now widely available that can create stories, generate images, clone our voices and much more.

What does this mean for human interactions? We still need to communicate to convey our thoughts and ideas. Effective communication requires us to develop our public speaking skills which requires practice and feedback. Without effective (and immediate) feedback, we can never understand if our speech will create the impact we desire.

With Yoodli (app.yoodli.ai), you have a judgement-free speech coach by your side, highlighting things you did well and suggesting areas of improvement.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. The significant impact of A.I. on our daily lives
2. Application of A.I. for improving communication skills
3. The future of A.I. is still being written, presenting challenges and opportunities ahead.

Biography / Profile of the Trainer: 

Cajetan Barretto is a certified trainer, public speaker, behavioral assessor, and a passionate Toastmaster.

He works as a Group Manager – Project Management Office at Al-Sayer Holding, based in Kuwait.

Cajetan joined Toastmasters in August 2017 and in a short period has completed CC, CL (4 Times), ALB, Club Sponsor, Club Mentor, 5 Paths in the Pathways education system and is currently pursuing Path #6. He served as Club President, VP-Education, Area Director, and Division Director for District 20 (serving Kuwait and Bahrain). Cajetan achieved Distinguished Toastmaster status in June 2020. Cajetan was awarded the prestigious District Toastmaster of the year for 2018-2019 during DTAC 2020.

Keynote Speaker

Topic/ Title: Fight or Flight

Description: Every leader is faced with obstacles in their journey. How they respond to it determines their success. The keynote dwells on this topic using personal stories to turn flight into fight.

Top 3 Takeaways:

• a) Realisation that there will always be challenges.
• b) Do we confront these challenges or avoid them.
• c) Strategies for success as a leader.

Biography / Profile of the Trainer:

Deepak Menon, DTM 2019-2020 International President, Toastmasters International Deepak Menon, of New Delhi, India, is a Chartered Accountant at J.P., Kapur & Uberai in New Delhi, where he is one of ten partners. He oversees management and operations, and specializes in international taxation, cross-border taxation, transfer pricing and direct taxes.

A Toastmaster since 2002, Deepak presently is a member of Central Delhi Toastmasters and JPKU Toastmasters. He has held a number of high-profile leadership positions within Toastmasters. During his term as District 82 Governor in 2009-2010, the district chartered an unbeaten record of 75 new clubs and attained the number one position in the world as a President’s Distinguished District.

Deepak served as Region 13 Advisor in 2011-12 and as International Director from 2013-2015. He was elected as Second Vice President in August 2016 and went on to lead Toastmasters International as its International President in 2019- 2020. Deepak served as the Chief Coordinator for the Toastmasters’ Youth Leadership program in collaboration with the American Center in New Delhi and helped build communication and leadership skills for approximately 700 underprivileged children in six cities in India.

“Toastmasters has taught me skills that no school, college or university can teach,” he says. “It has helped me evolve from a being a lone-player to a being a team-player; from being led to being a leader; from the problem to being the solution.”

Trainer

Managing Director, Uppscalle Investments Pvt Ltd

Topic/ Title: Plan for your Stress-free Future

Description: How to attain Financial Nirvana with simple steps of Financial Planning.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Make your money work for you
2. How to avoid financial traps laid by the Banks.
3. Achieve stress free retirement life.

Biography / Profile of the Trainer: 

Mr. CHP Kumar has over 35+ years of diverse experience in various fields such as Retail finance business, Sales and retail finance covering diverse products of Motorcycles, 3-Wheelers, Tractors and Agri Equipment. 

He is also a gold medalist in Engineering at TNAU & a pass-out of one of the prestigious institutions – ISB Hyderabad.

He also worked with top corporates in India at senior levels with Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, Escorts Limited and Texmo Industries.

Through his expertise and wealth of knowledge, Mr. CHP has helped countless individuals and businesses to achieve their financial goals and secure their financial future.

His dedication and commitment to the financial planning profession have earned him and his team a well-deserved reputation as a trusted and respected Mutual Fund Distribution Company, 

Uppscalle Investments Private Limited, with an AUM (Assets Under Management) of nearly Rs 350 crores since its inception three years ago.

Trainer

Topic / Title: Creative Problem Solving

Description: This session will allow participants to use teamwork to make logical decisions. Distinguish between problems and solutions. Identify proper resources to help solve problems. Develop a list of realistic alternatives and potential solutions. Create a plan for implementing decisions. Avoid common decision-making mistakes.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Decision Making
2. Team Building
3. Rational Thought

Biography / Profile of the Trainer: 

Fadey has been in Doha for 10 years, where he is a lecturer at the University of Doha for Science and Technology in the College of Business Management.  He is also a member of the Middle East Executive Committee for the Association of Corporate Treasurers.  Prior to teaching, Fadeys’ career revolved around three main areas – Treasury, Trading Operations and Commercial Banking.

Trainer

Topic/ Title: Value-based Leadership

Description: Values-based leadership builds on the leader’s and team’s / organization’s values.   When values are shared, teams experience greater alignment and benefit from higher productivity. Values-based leaders focus on the collective good; they create an environment where creativity and innovation flourish. The session will enable participants to identify personnel core values and alignment with team/organization values to be a value-based leader. 

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. To identify their personnel core values
2. How to align their values with team/organization values. 
3. Participants may experience stress-free after the alignment session. 

Biography / Profile of the Trainer: 

Joseph Stanley – Leadership & Belief Coach

Joseph has vast experience working in the highly hazardous Oil & Gas industry, where the right safety mindset means saving a life daily. He is managing the High – Performance Safety Culture program in a leading petrochemical company in Qatar. His specialization is aligning Corporate Leadership & HSE values in the minds of 40+ nationalities with different beliefs & values.

He is a Certified Johan Maxwell Coach, Speaker, Trainer, ICF-trained Coach, International Coaching Federation member, and Certified PSYCH-K facilitator to reprogram the subconscious mind.

He holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management and a Master’s in Safety Management. He has been an active Toastmaster for the past 15 years and has held various leadership positions at Division & District levels. He is a Distinguished Toastmaster.

Trainer

Topic/ Title: Mastering Time: The Art of Business Etiquette

Description: In this interactive workshop, participants will learn the importance of time management in the world of business. The workshop will focus on various strategies and techniques to help individuals manage their time more effectively, including prioritization, scheduling, and delegation. Additionally, the workshop will address business etiquette in relation to time management, such as punctuality, appropriate use of technology, and communication skills. The goal of the workshop is to help participants enhance their productivity and professionalism in the workplace.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Time Management
2. Dressing for success
3. Meeting Etiquette

Biography / Profile of the Trainer: 

Dr. Shaheema Hameed works as Curriculum Developer at Aspire Academy for Sport Excellence under the Aspire Zone Foundation in Doha. Qatar. 

She transitioned into the corporate sector after completing nearly 11 years in academia. She is an accomplished researcher and a passionate teacher who has published research under reputable names like Springer and Emerald. She also spearheads the Global Generation Z research, the largest demographic survey on Generation Z in the world, as Country Liaison (India). 

Prior to joining Aspire Academy, she worked as Assistant Professor for Banasthali Vidyapith, the world’s largest residential women’s university. 

She has published 22 research papers, presented them at 23 conferences and has organized and participated in 11 workshops and seminars. She has more than 100+ training hours in soft skills development, business communication, research writing and career development.  

In addition to holding a PhD which was obtained under the Government of India’s UGC NET JRF Research Fellow scheme, she is also an MBA specializing in Human Resource Management, Business Research, Business Communication, and soft skills development. 

Additionally, she is also an accredited Trainer of English to Speakers of Other Languages under the American TESOL Institute.

Trainer

Topic/ Title: Intelligence and Improv in the Business Setting

Description: What is Improvisation? In general terms, improvisation is the ability to create and implement a new or an unplanned solution in the face of an unexpected problem or change. It is often seen as a spontaneous, intuitive, creative problem-solving behavior that mostly happens “on the fly.” How do you deal with a crisis? What do you do when a sudden change disrupts routines? In order to thrive in times of uncertainty, you need managers and employees who can think on their feet and act fast — without an instruction manual. That is, you need skilled improvisers.

In the face of rapid transformation and increasing uncertainty, the ability to improvise has become more important than ever. But what does it take to develop improvisational skills? 

The trainer will conduct an interactive session (45 minutes) to give the participants the knowledge and skills on Improv –with practical exercises and role playing. 

Hiring teams don’t often screen for improvisation skills, and most employee training programs focus on developing leadership or technical skills rather than helping employees to become better improvisers. However, improvisation is in fact key to organizational agility. Managers and employees who are capable improvisers will steer their companies through crises and paradigm shifts, from technological breakthroughs and changing trade regulations to environmental disasters and the myriad challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Victoria Vicky Ferrer had taken a course in Improvisation in Los Angeles from Advantage Improv lead by Lee Godden and Bob Doll in 2021 and graduated as one of the top in her class.  She is the Founder President of Global Improv and Storytellers in D116. 

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Imagination and ability to generate new ideas.
2. Spontaneity and ability to present without preconceived ideas.
3. Ability to take risks and overcome fear of failure and being judged

Biography / Profile of the Trainer: 

Victoria is a Corporate Trainer and a Personality Development Coach for adults and teens in the Middle East.  She is a Certified International Professional Trainer and Certified International Professional Training Manager accredited by the American Certification Institute. She has conducted training on Communications, Leadership, Cultural Intelligence, Global Accent, Improvisation and Characterization among other topics in the UK, Europe, Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Hawaii, and the Middle East. Victoria or Vicky graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Science from De La Salle University with a Cum Laude award.  She has a Master’s Degree in Development Communication (top 2 in her class). She recently completed a course in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy with Dr Lane Pedersen.

Vicky as she is commonly called was a Managing Director of JM International –a recruitment agency in the Philippines that sent Filipinos to the Middle East lead by the late Jaime N Ferrer former COMELEC Chairperson and Minister of Local Government (her father). She also worked in Gulf Mirror in Bahrain, Commercial Bank of Qatar as a Training Officer, and Rayyan Water in Jordan as Chief Operations Officer. 

Victoria was the Region 11 Advisor of Toastmasters International covering Britain and Ireland, the Middle East, Europe, South and West Africa- 2015-2016. She conducted communication and leadership training in Barcelona, Spain, Nice, France, Denmark Copenhagen, United Kingdom, West Africa and South Africa, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon and Jordan. 

She was a Past District 20 Governor of 7 countries-Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates in 2013-2014.  Vicky has received the DTM (Distinguished Toastmasters Award) three times and has applied for her 4th one.  She is the founder and the Charter President of Global Improv and Storytellers -an Advanced Club in D116 and Athena International Toastmasters Club –an All Women’s club for professional women in D116.  She is the Founder President of 6 clubs in Jordan and Qatar.  Vicky has been a Gavel Club Councilor for Wonder Studio Gavel Club (a Public Speaking Club for children from 7 to 16 years old) an online club with membership from Canada, UK, USA, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.  Vicky has been conducting Personality Development workshops on Communications, Leadership, Social Etiquette, Public Speaking, etc for children, teens and adults since 2003 in the Middle East. She has also conducted Corporate Training on Communications, Leadership, Multicultural Intelligence and Management among many topics for various companies in the Middle East.

Vicky was a stage actress in the Philippines under PETA in the past.

She was a recipient of the President’s Citation Award 2022 from Toastmasters International and personally received it in Nashville Tennessee last August 18, 2022.  She received her 4th DTM award last March 10, 2023.  Last December 8, 2022 she was awarded as the Top 50 Global Inspirational Women to Look Out for in 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by The Prodigy under the Sponsorship of Her Royal Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Khalifa Al Khalifa (Bahrain and UAE) She will be a Guest Speaker in Singapore on June 24 at the Global Women Empowerment Summit.  Victoria Vicky Ferrer had taken a course in Improvisation in Los Angeles from Advantage Improv lead by Lee Godden and Bob Doll in 2021 and graduated as one of the top in her class.  She is the Founder President of Global Improv and Storytellers in D116. 

She is the Founder of LIT –Learner’s Innovative Talkademy offering various courses including Life Skills.  Vicky is a resident in California.

Trainer

Topic/ Title: Stay Curious & deploy Creative Thinking

Description: ‘I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious’, said Albert Einstein, one of the greatest theoretical physicists of all times.

Curiosity keeps the mind active, young, and agile. It enables you to see and learn new things, promotes creativity, and boosts problem solving skills, both in your personal and professional life. How to use day to day chores and leisurely activities to stay curious and deploy creativity defines the general scope of the module.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Awareness of the importance of curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving.
2. Ways of working on creative thinking, in the moment, and when you have more time.
3. Identifying creative exercises that work for you, and to practice at leisure.

Biography / Profile of the Trainer: 

An Electronics & Communication engineer, who chose to leave behind his engineering career of thirty and odd years, to pursue his passion as a trainer, mentor, and coach.

A Toastmaster since 2003, recipient of the first ‘Vibrant Mentor’ award at DTAC 2022, the unsung mentor to many a champion speaker in Qatar, and, unofficially, the mentor to many of the Division/District finalist in both International and humorous speech categories Regular columnis